Videos & Rules

Australian Online Gambling Operator Tabcorp In Court

Published Wednesday, July 22, 2015 -
Online-Casinos.com

Money makes the world go around but in some cases money is used to finance illegal and dangerous activities such as terrorism and crime. The internet gambling industry has put in place measures to make sure that money obtained illegally by criminals is not laundered and made legitimate.

As with all businesses that are working on an international level there are appropriate compliance procedures to meet the increasing regulatory demands. Firms operating on a global basis also need to demonstrate a robust compliance framework ensuring that each territory has sufficient oversight and that AML regulatory requirements are being adhered to at both a local and global level.

Non compliance can have serious consequences for companies who fail to meet the requirements. The Australian Transaction Reports and Analysts Centre (Austrac) the Australian anti-money laundering organization has filed a civil court action against Tabcorp. The agency is alleging the gambling operator has not taken sufficient precaution against money laundering and terrorism financing activities. Austrac stated on its web page the action follows a “long and comprehensive” process of assessment by the agency. Austrac also said that it gave Tabcorp a variety of opportunities to improve its standards, but the gambling operator did not take the “necessary steps”.

The CEO of Austrac Paul Jevtovic, commented, “Non-compliance of this nature provides opportunities for organised crime to exploit vulnerabilities and puts at risk the integrity of the Australian financial system. Austrac works to keep dirty money out of our financial system, which helps protect the Australian community from serious and organised crime.

“As we have demonstrated in this case, we are prepared to work with businesses to improve their systems and controls, but will take strong action when they fail to make the necessary improvements to address serious and systemic non-compliance.

“We will continue to work with law enforcement and other agencies to address risks associated with money laundering – for the benefit of the community as a whole.”